Protecting the Canada Warbler at both ends of its epic journey

The Canada Warbler migrates more than 10,000 kilometres a year, from Canada and the United States to the forests of South America. Find out how our Colombian Partner is using a local grassroots approach to support an Americas-wide action plan to protect the species.

Each year, one of the biggest wonders of the natural world occurs: bird migration. You may be surprised to learn that of the 11,000+ species of birds that exist, one in five is considered migratory. Some of these species make really incredible trips. The Canada Warbler Cardellina canadensis flies more than 10,000 kilometres every year from Canada and the United States to the humid cloud forests of South America, coming to rest across Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and northern Peru.

Eliana Fierro, a biologist at Asociación Calidris (BirdLife in Colombia), explains that the threats facing this tiny voyager are different at each end of its journey: “[At their breeding sites], agrochemicals are harming the insects they feed on. While here in their wintering area, the main problem is deforestation. When these birds arrive in South America, they rely on forests 500 – 2000 meters above sea level. But often they arrive to find that there is no forest anymore.”

Because of its wide distribution, all efforts to protect the Canada Warbler must cross borders. From 2004 – 2017, around 30 organisations from all over the Americas joined forces to develop the Canada Warbler Full Life Cycle Action Plan, bringing together research on threats the species faces in each country. Fierro explains: “The plan first started at the breeding sites, coordinated by Nature Canada and Birdlife. Then we decided to include the wintering grounds, and the construction of the complete cycle action plan for the species began.” As part of this process, Asociación Calidris became the Species Guardian in Colombia.

Their first step focused on raising awareness of the species; not only among birdwatchers, but also among the owners of farms that host the species every year. "We are currently working in the Western Cordillera in two very specific locations: Dapa [in the village of Chicoral] and Villa Carmelo," explains Eliana Fierro. Chicoral village is located at the highest part of the Bitaco district in the municipality of La Cumbre. Whereas Valle del Cauca can be found on the Pacific slope of the Western mountain range.

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Exotic game bird spotted in southeast Edmonton 'thrive pretty well': Wildlife expert

NATALI TRIVUNCIC

Updated: May 2, 2019

Steve Taylor came home this week to find an unusual looking bird — rotund with orange eyes and beak — pecking away at his front lawn in southeast Edmonton.

The bird is believed to be a chukar, a type of partridge introduced as a game bird in Canada during the 1920s.

“From 5 o’clock to about 9 or 9:30, it was still on our front lawn and it appeared to be digging a little bit in one of our planter boxes and may be nesting or something, but it didn’t stick around after that,” said Taylor earlier this week.

Dale Gienow, who heads up WILDNorth (formerly the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton), said chukars are often farmed as game birds or for meat, but it is not unusual for one of them to fly the coop.

“Every year we get one or two of these guys that get brought in and people are like, ‘What the heck is this, this isn’t supposed to be around here,’” said Gienow.

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Cause of mass bird deaths revealed

09/03/2019

Some 56 Mallards and a Canada Goose died in a park in Calgary, Canada, due to starvation and exposure. Alberta Environment and Parks confirmed the reason behind the grim scenes, which were discovered during the last week of February in Elliston Park. A few carcasses were discovered initially by Heather and Wayne Clarke, with more and more dead birds being found in the following days. This sparked an investigation with the outcome ruling that limited foraging opportunities drove the mass deaths.

Alberta Environment and Parks and the Canadian Wildlife Health Co-operative at the University of Calgary investigated the incident at the stormwater pond, and in a statement said: "[We] have determined that the ducks suffered from starvation and exposure, which was the likely cause that led to the mortality of 56 Mallards and one Canada Goose. Some additional tests are underway to rule out other causes of death."

Due to extremely cold temperatures, birds that spend the winter as far north as Calgary can face a particularly tough time – particularly wildfowl, which depend on open water. It's thought that particularly harsh conditions sparked the sudden death of such a large number of birds.

When Mr and Mrs Clarke first came across the load of dead animals there were only a handful of bodies, but open further visits to the pond during the same week many more appeared. Wayne Clarke said: "We couldn't believe it … after a week, 50 birds, scattered around – unbelievable. I've been hiking around this lake here for 17 years and I've never seen it like this."

Brett Boukall, Senior Wildlife Biologist at Alberta Environment and Parks, added: "When we see this overcrowding, the birds might not be able to feed effectively, they might not be able to protect themselves from the elements. It's possible that if one of them is carrying a disease, it can spread more quickly when they’re in a tighter group in a smaller area."

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Historic release bolsters one of Canada's most endangered birds

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Calgary Zoo 

Mar 11, 2019, 11:00 ET

Conservation collaboration benefits greater sage-grouse

For more media materials, please visit:
https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8509351-calgaryzoo-endangered-birds/ 

CALGARY, March 11, 2019 /CNW/ - With the release of 66 greater sage-grouse into the wild, the Calgary Zoo, in partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and Parks Canada, has significantly boosted one of Canada'smost endangered birds at a time when fewer than 250 remain in their habitat.

This milestone release is the result of a five-year program by the Calgary Zoo, which is working in collaboration with NCC and Parks Canada, with funding support from the Governments of Canada and Alberta.

"These are early days in the urgent effort to save this precious species, but what we have been able to accomplish so far has been truly remarkable," says Dr. Axel Moehrenschlager, Director Conservation and Science, Calgary Zoo. "With the help of many partners, we have built an innovative, multi-year breeding and reintroduction program, which we hope will ensure this iconic prairie bird can flourish for generations to come."

Once common across the western prairie, an estimated 80 per cent of the greater sage-grouse population has disappeared over the past 30 years. Today fewer than 250 wild greater sage-grouse remain in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan. The birds were designated as endangered in Canada in 1998 under the Species at Risk Act. The loss, fragmentation and degradation of native grassland habitats are key reasons why the bird is endangered. Other factors are predation and the West Nile virus. Populations are limited to sagebrush grasslands.

Greater sage-grouse recovery project

In 2014, the federal and provincial governments pledged funding to help protect greater sage-grouse, enabling the zoo to begin a dedicated conservation breeding and reintroduction program. The plan was based on recommendations from the international multi-stakeholder Population and Habitat Viability Assessment Workshop for the greater sage-grouse in Canada.

In 2016, the zoo announced the creation of Canada's first-ever greater sage-grouse breeding facility: the Snyder-Wilson Family Greater Sage-Grouse Pavilion. Since then the zoo has established a healthy population of 54 grouse that make up the conservation breeding flock.

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Rare bird is the talk of a Halifax retirement home

Chukars are the national bird of Iraq and Pakistan, but one is now calling the Parkland Clayton Park home

Richard Woodbury · CBC News · Posted: Jan 19, 2019 6:00 AM AT | Last Updated: January 19

A bird that's a long way from home is being welcomed with open arms by residents at a Halifax retirement complex.

Last summer, a chukar appeared outside the Parkland Clayton Park and has remained there ever since. The red-billed partridge has since been named Clayton, a nod to the Clayton Park neighbourhood where the retirement facility is located.

Chukars are the national birds of Iraq and Pakistan, and are native to the Middle East and southern Asia. According to the National Audubon Society, they were brought as a game bird to North America and have thrived in some arid regions in the western U.S.

"We have no idea how he got here, but you know, he seems to be faring well so far and he's certainly being well fed and well looked after," said Jennifer Shannon, the general manager at Parkland Clayton Park.

Clayton can generally be found somewhere in the courtyard, which is enveloped by the retirement buildings.

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Haida Gwaii home to northern goshawks, rare genetic cluster of raptors

Only 50 of the raptors are left on the archipelago.

NEWS Jan 20, 2019 by Hina Alam The Canadian Press

A northern goshawk is shown feeding on a chicken. Haida Gwaii's population of northern goshawks are the last remnant of a highly distinct genetic cluster of the raptors. - Caitlin Blewett, The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER — Haida Gwaii's population of northern goshawks are the last remnant of a highly distinct genetic cluster of the birds, a new study by University of British Columbia researchers has found.

Researchers estimate the population of birds may have been evolving separately on Haida Gwaii for 20,000 years — right around the last time the glaciers melted, causing the sea levels to rise and potentially separating the birds from their kin.

While the birds can fly long distances — with goshawks from Michigan and Manitoba travelling as far away as the central United States — they don't seem to like travelling over vast expanses of water, which could account for their long-term isolation, said study co-lead Armando Geraldes.

"There don't seem to be strong geographic barriers anywhere on the continent, but then you get that body of water — about 70 kilometres of water between Haida Gwaii and the mainland — and that is apparently is enough to isolate that population," he said.

Only 50 of the raptors are left on the archipelago.

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Climate change not a huge factor in Oak Bay’s rare bird sightings: UVic professor

Increased health of Uplands Park’s Garry Oak ecosystems likely contributing to sightings

Oct. 30, 2018 6:30 p.m.

Although rare bird sightings have become more frequent at Uplands Park over the past couple of years, climate change is not playing a huge factor, according to a University of Victoria professor.

“Climate change probably plays a slight role in just about every biological interaction at this point, but it’s probably not the dominant reason for that,” said Brian Starzomski, Ian McTaggart Cowan professor of biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration.

Recent rare bird sightings have been drawing many avid birders to Uplands Park. The most significant of these recent sightings – a female pine bunting – took place earlier this month. It’s thought to be the first sighting of this bird south of Alaska.

Birders have also been searching for the northern mockingbird, which is thought to have been in the park for about six weeks, and the pileated woodpecker, which was spotted just last week.

According to Starzomski, it’s not uncommon for migrating birds to deviate from their usual path.

“Most really unusual birds like the pine bunting are vagrant birds that have gone up when they were meant to slide down to southern Asia, and they turn right instead of left,” he said. “They get blown away by a storm, or they have something in their internal makeup that makes them make a wrong choice on which direction to go.”

“There’s always a small number of birds in every population of birds that makes a bad decision somehow.”

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METCALFE: The Warbler among rarest birds in Canada

ZACK METCALFE THE ENDANGERED PERSPECTIVE 

Published July 16, 2018 - 8:52am
Last Updated July 16, 2018 - 8:53am

The prothonotary warbler ranks among the rarest birds in Canada, but then, it probably always has. Showing a clear preference for the warmth of the United States, its only foray into Canada occurs in the Carolinian forests of southern Ontario, a region I visited just last month.

Point Pelee National Park is the southernmost tip of our country, an arrowhead of land reaching boldly into Lake Erie, resting farther south even than northern California. Two-thirds of this outstanding park are made up of wetlands, and where forests stand in swamp is where this fascinating warbler prefers to nest.

Their Canadian population was estimated at 28 individuals in 2015, forming fewer than 10 active nests between them each annum. In 2018, at the time of my visit, two of these nests resided in Point Pelee, reachable, more or less, by trail.

The forested wetlands in which they nest are a site to behold; perfectly still ponds of water formed by the omnipresent tumult of Lake Erie. In them stand hardy trees creating a suffocating canopy, complimented underneath by a blanket of lime green vegetation obscuring the water.

A series of regular, sharp tweets signalled the presence of this brave bird, defending the territory surrounding its nesting box, erected by Parks Canada staff in the water and greenery. I saw him dart from perch-to-perch, collecting food for his nest, apparently housing his better half.

The prothonotary warbler is listed as endangered in Canada, given its rarity and the draining of its wetland habitat, but across the entirety of North America, it’s doing well enough, numbering an estimated 1.6 million strong. Its national endangerment is a matter of borders, and the fact that our 28 individuals reside on the northern edge of the species’ range, but this, I’ve learned, did not make their conservation any less important.

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Counting crows: Vancouver college maps thousands of attacks

Tool launched in response to dive-bombing birds documents 2,500 attacks since 2016

Ashifa Kassam in Toronto

Fri 20 Jul 2018 09.32 BSTLast modified on Sat 21 Jul 2018 19.48 BST

It was a crow fiercely protecting its nest – and repeated complaints of it dive-bombing and swooping – that prompted the idea.

“Just about every day someone would come in and say: ‘I got smacked in the back of the head,’ or ‘Mary got smacked in the back of the head,’” said Jim O’Leary, a teacher at Langara College in Vancouver, Canada.

“I was thinking to myself: I know crows are smart but we’re pretty smart too. Isn’t there something that I can do about this?”

The result was CrowTrax, an online tool that since 2016 has documented about 2,500 crow attacks in the Metro Vancouver region, nearby Victoria and around the world.

O’Leary, who teaches a course on geographic information systems (GIS), initially envisioned the site as a way to show his students how such systems could be used to map and store spatial data.

“But it kind of took on a life of its own. Because most people really don’t care about GIS; they just care about crows,” he said.

Within hours of launching the site, reports began pouring in. About 1,000 anecdotes came in during the site’s first year, and 1,500 the next year.

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In the shadow of Canada’s biggest city, the piping plover struggles to survive

IVAN SEMENIUKSCIENCE REPORTER

PUBLISHED JULY 3, 2018UPDATED 2 DAYS AGO

Endangered they may be, but, this summer, two piping plovers are raising a family of tiny chicks on a Toronto beach where the species has not successfully nested in more than 80 years – all within sight of downtown skyscrapers, hungry predators and airplanes taking off overhead.

Starting on June 20, a total of four eggs hatched in the couple’s nest on the sand at Hanlan’s Point on Toronto Island. Looking no bigger than fuzzy golf balls on toothpicks, the hatchlings have been scurrying around under their parents’ watchful gaze ever since.

“Everybody’s loving them,” said Andrea Gress, who co-ordinates the monitoring of piping plover nests across Ontario for Bird Studies Canada, and who has been working with volunteer monitors at the site.

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Tiny bird threatens one of Canada's biggest music festivals

The killdeer, a protected bird that weighs less than five ounces, laid eggs in area where the main stage will be for Ottawa’s Bluesfest

Ashifa Kassam in Toronto

Tue 26 Jun 2018 18.04 BSTLast modified on Tue 26 Jun 201819.15 BST

A diminutive bird known for its shrill, high pitched call is threatening to derail one of Canada’s biggest music festivals after it built a nest in the same location as the main stage was slated to be erected.

The first hint of trouble for Ottawa’s Bluesfest, an outdoor festival that draws some 300,000 people each year in the nation’s capital, came last week after workers at the site stumbled across an agitated killdeer, a brown and white bird that weighs less than five ounces.

The bird – which enjoys protected status in Canada – had laid four speckled eggs on a cobblestone patch, effectively claiming the main stage area as its nesting grounds.

“This is one of the most challenging problems we’ve been presented with, but we feel we can work through this,” said Mark Monahan, the executive director of the festival, which is due to start on 5 July. “Anything that disrupts the schedule has a major effect, so we’re taking it very seriously.”

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Name change to Canada Jay part of bid to become Canada's national bird

KEVIN GRIFFIN

Updated: May 29, 2018

Birders and ornithologists across Canada are hoping that a name change will help revive a campaign to make the cheeky songbird the country’s national bird.

What was once known as the Gray Jay is now the Canada Jay. Earlier this month the change was announced by the American Ornithological Association (AOA), the U.S.-based group dedicated to the scientific study and conservation of birds.

In fact, the decision corrects what many consider a historical mistake. Canada Jay is a restoration of the English name the bird held from 1831-1957.

The new name for the songbird is exactly what David Bird, a retired McGill University wildlife professor, thinks will help convince the federal government to officially adopt the Canada Jay as the country’s national bird.

Bird speaks on behalf of Team Canada Jay, a loose group of about 50 birders, ornithologists and supporters. One of its prominent members is artist Robert Bateman.

Last year, the drive to single out the Gray Jay ran out of steam when the federal government said it wasn’t interested. The campaign had been started by the Royal Canadian Geographic Society which ran a National Bird Project and an online contest. Finishing first and second in voting were the common loon and snowy owl. But the society choose the third-place Gray Jay for a very good reason, Bird said. The loon is already Ontario’s provincial bird and the snowy owl, Quebec’s.

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Ruffled feathers: feral peacocks split community in Canada

Tensions have come to a head over the fate of dozens of wild peacocks that have taken up residence on a street near Vancouver

Aryn Strickland in Surrey

Sat 5 May 2018 12.00 BSTLast modified on Mon 7 May 2018 22.32 BST

For a decade, a group of feral peacocks have divided the community of Sullivan Heights. Some of the residents of this suburban neighbourhood outside Vancouver love the birds, who have taken up residence in the local trees; others say they are kept awake by the peacocks’ screeching.

For Parminder Brar, the final straw came last year, when he says his father injured himself slipping on peacock excrement on Brar’s property. He formally issued a request to take down the tree where the peacocks had built a nest. The city turned him down.

So, this week, Brar cut down the tree himself.

The move has sparked a furore in Sullivan Heights, angering his neighbours and potentially earning Brar a fine of up to $10,000.

“The majority of us love them. They add value to the neighbourhood,” says Katie Taylor, who has lived on the street for 12 years.

Unlike their native counterpart, the Canada geese who periodically stop by and can be aggressive, the peacocks have proven to be peaceful neighbours.

“We haven’t seen any aggression from the peacocks,” Taylor says. “You can feed them from your hands.”

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How to improve habitat conservation for migrating cranes

Date:  April 18, 2018

Source:  American Ornithological Society Publications Office

Summary:

Every year, endangered whooping cranes travel along a 4,000-kilometer corridor linking their Canadian nesting grounds and their winter home in Texas. Habitat in their path through the northern Great Plains is being lost at an alarming rate, but identifying key spots for protection is a challenge. Now, researchers behind a new study have created a model of whooping crane habitat use with the potential to greatly improve the targeting of conservation efforts during their migration.

Researcher Neal Niemuth and his colleagues used a database of Whooping Crane sightings in the region since 1990 to examine cranes' habitat use in North and South Dakota. Analyzing the spatial patterns of the sightings, they found that Whooping Cranes prefer habitat that includes a mix of croplands and wetlands and are more attracted by a single large wetland basin than multiple smaller basins. Their results also show the effects of different conservation strategies across the region. East of the Missouri River, where efforts have been specifically targeted toward waterfowl conservation, lands under conservation management were more likely than other locations to be used by Whooping Cranes. West of the river, however, this was not the case.

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City Council looks to make London more bird-friendly

April 4, 2018 4:00 pm

Updated: April 4, 2018 4:35 pm

By Christian D’Avino Reporter  980 CFPL

High-rise buildings in the Forest City could become more bird-friendly in the future.

A report presented to a London City Council committee on Tuesday evening pledges to make London’s high-rises both safer for birds and more energy efficient.

“What we are seeing from the data regarding bird-related deaths, many of them are getting confused in flight when faced with tall high-rise-type buildings,” said member of the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority board, Sandy Levin.

“Birds are often attracted to lights or believe a tree’s reflection in a glass window is the real thing,” he said.

The report looks to borrow from similar policies in cities such as Toronto, Markham, and Calgary.

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Humans behind majority of raptor deaths in Ontario, Canada

Date:  March 12, 2018

Source:  University of Guelph

Summary:

Researchers found that a majority of raptor deaths are due to trauma and starvation caused by urban expansion and other types of anthropogenic landscape alterations.

Human encroachment is the leading cause of death among Ontario's at-risk birds of prey, according to a first-ever University of Guelph study.

Among deceased raptors submitted to the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative over a 23-year period, a majority of the wild birds died of trauma and starvation, said pathobiology professor Nicole Nemeth.

"The most common cause of death was from trauma, which often included colliding with a vehicle or flying into stationary objects, such as buildings," said Nemeth. "The second most common cause was emaciation, which often occurs when the landscape changes in a way that hinders them from successfully hunting and finding shelter."

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Arctic ookpik boom sees many snowy owls head south this winter

"Snowies" have been seen in south-central United States

JANE GEORGE

Snowy owls have become the new Canadian “snow birds” this winter, migrating south of the border in great numbers, and some of the birds, called ookpiks in Inuktitut, have gone as far south as the state of Missouri where their presence on power poles, hay bales and fences has attracted a lot of attention.

In Missouri—more than 3,800 kilometres south of north Baffin, where many snowy owls nest and breed—the big owls, which can weigh up to more than six pounds and have a wingspan of nearly five feet, find a varied diet: they may eat rabbits, squirrels and other rodents, mink and muskrats, and waterfowl and other birds, which they find “usually by sitting on a fence post or from other vantage point and looking and listening for prey,” the Missouri Department of Conservation said in a recent update on snowy owls.

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More than 100 Birds Found Dead in Suncor Tailings Pond

By Dan Healing, The Canadian Press via 660 News

CALGARY – Oilsands giant Suncor Energy says it is mystified by the discovery Sunday of dead and dying birds at a nearly complete northern Alberta mine that hasn’t produced its first official barrel of oil yet.

On Tuesday, the Alberta Energy Regulator announced it was dispatching an inspector to the nearly completed Fort Hills oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray after Suncor reported finding 123 waterfowl and songbirds near a tailings pond.

“On Sunday … a group of birds were discovered in the north end of our Fort Hills tailings area and had to be euthanized,” said Suncor (TSX:SU) spokeswoman Nicole Fisher in an email.

“The majority of birds impacted were horned larks (a migratory species). The larks are not native to the area so we are engaging with wildlife experts as well as the regulator to determine what additional measures we can put in place.”

She said the company has launched an investigation to figure out why the birds were in the area despite the presence of working bird deterrent systems, including cannon, radar and scarecrows.

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Rare Whooping Cranes visit Medstead

Corrina Murdoch , Correspondent / Battlefords News-Optimist

April 25, 2017 12:49 PM

The majestic Whooping Crane, currently on the endangered species list, paid the beautiful RM of Medstead a special visit April 18, and they seem to be stick around. These birds have been on the endangered list for many years now, with population numbers having dipped as low as 21 in 1941. Currently, according to Nature Canada, the population has risen to a global total of roughly 300. It is hoped that this number will continue to rise.

Though the rising population is seen as hopeful, the cranes do not have their future guaranteed. Their numbers have been growing gradually over the years, but the birds are very sensitive to human interaction and have been in an uphill battle over the last few decades. Various conservation groups are very vocal as to the need to keep these glorious creatures protected.

Whooping cranes are the tallest birds in North America at almost one and a half meters in height. They boast an ability to fly without stopping for ten hours, covering over seven hundred kilometers. During migration, this species is known to eat grain from farm crops. Perhaps this is why they were seen in the thriving farmland of the RM of Medstead.

Part of the magic lies in the fact that, though Saskatchewan has been a breeding ground for these creatures in the past, they have mostly been seen in the area of Midnight Lake, near Glaslyn. Reportedly, however, their primary locations are Wood Buffalo National Park (near the Alberta-Northwest Territories border) and down to the Texas Gulf Coast for their wintering. It is a special treat when any person has the chance to see these rare birds. 

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New conservation site in Manitoba

By: Staff The Canadian Press Published on Thu Feb 02 2017 

LUNDAR, Man. — A nature group has unveiled a new conservation site in Manitoba.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada says the Swan Lake Wetland-Parkland Complex project near Lundar is more than 935 hectares.

It says the area is a mix of forest, savanna, grasslands and expansive wetlands which tie into Big Swan Lake and the surrounding smaller shallow water lakes.

It says bird surveys conducted in the area found 86 bird species, including four threatened species at risk — the least bittern, Eastern Whip-poor-will, bobolink and barn swallow.

The conservancy says the open wetlands along the east end of the property are important for many wetland bird species, including sandhill crane, great blue heron, and American white pelican.

Environment Canada contributed more than $521,000 which was used to help buy the land, and cover off other project costs, surveys, appraisals, biological inventories for all species and habitats and a property management plan.

"It's exciting for our 200th project to have been a wetland as there's many important reasons to conserve Manitoba's wetlands," Kevin Teneycke, senior director of conservation with the Nature Conservancy of Canada in Manitoba said in a news release.

"Wetlands help clean water, reduce flooding and erosion, minimize drought and provide plants and animals with food, water, shelter and a place to call home. During warmer months, wetlands also provide excellent recreational spots and learning opportunities."

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